


At Ease

by ren (renegadewriter)



Series: The Paratrooper and the Samurai [7]
Category: Transformers (Bay Movies), Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Prompt Fill
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-03
Updated: 2014-08-03
Packaged: 2018-02-11 13:07:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 791
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2069382
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/renegadewriter/pseuds/ren
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Based on the prompt: pandiculation. Definition Inside.</p><p>Drift always onlines before Crosshairs, and he has come to discover something about the paratrooper that makes him reflect on the changes in their lives.</p>
            </blockquote>





	At Ease

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: Pandiculation  
> Definition: (n.) an all-over stretching and yawning, as upon waking or going to bed.
> 
> Short drabble. Hopefully gonna be starting soon to write for the LJ ProwlxJazz anniversary challenge, so there might not be more of this series for awhile.
> 
> EDITED: August 5, 2014

Watching Crosshairs come online was like watching a sleepy cat. The green mech didn’t recharge as still and graceful as Drift did, but rather sprawled across their berths. Sometimes he would wrap an arm around Drift while the other hanged off the ledge, or sometimes Crosshairs would move around so much he accidentally kicked Drift, his legs ending on top of the swords master. Cybertronians didn’t snore, and after finding out what snoring was they were all grateful for it. But Crosshairs’ systems sometimes made a small rattling noise that both soothed Drift into recharge but also concerned him. Ratchet would have done a full frame scan had he heard a noise like that.

Drift usually recharged on his back, servos folded on his stomach, or on his side with his helm tucked away in Crosshairs’ neck. The Bugatti had a habit of onlining before the paratrooper, doing some katas or meditating before Crosshairs' chronometer went off. It was doing these moments that he saw the paratrooper in a vulnerable position. The first time he’d seen Crosshairs online he had stared in awe. 

The green mech would turn on his back and stretch his arms far above his head, to the point that Drift sometimes feared he could dislocate them. His back would arc beautifully, legs tensing as small shivers ran through his frame. The cogs and platings would perform an instinctive diagnostics: flaring, contracting and expanding, transforming and readjusting to their natural position as Crosshairs settled with a content sigh.

It had puzzled Drift the first time. Before, they had all shared the same space, and even before that the same outpost for several vorns. The swords master had never once seen him do that. In fact, Crosshairs was a light recharger. The paratrooper would recharge on his back, and would online the moment his sensors picked up someone nearby. He would never take time to stretch, and he would never take so long. It was recharging one moment, and up and about the next. But now, every morning would be the same thing, and Drift had wondered about it. 

Why the change?

It hadn’t been until a passing comment from Hound that he had found his answer. 

“Frag, as happy as Ah am not having ta watch mah back all the time, go on patrols and prepare for the next battle, Ah’m getting bored at this monotony. We sure are getting comfortable here aren’t we?”

Comfortable. That was the answer. Before coming to live at the Yeager farm they had led a life of  constant battles, of death and fear where they had to recharge with one optic on the door and a gun in their servos. When the humans betrayed them they went into hiding, scared that they wouldn’t fool the humans and be caught. 

But now, there were no battles to fight, patrols were an excuse to drive around, and they were under the protection of the army again, the humans that the first Autobots to arrive on Earth had fought beside and who had even died to protect them in the beginning of this mess. Their hangars were their homes now, and Crosshairs, maybe unknowingly had found both peace and safety. It humbled Drift to see such a change, wondering if he too had become so relaxed. It also spoke volumes of Crosshairs’ trust in him that he allowed this side of him to show. It made his spark beat faster and giddiness fill him. 

“Whatcha smiling about samurai?” 

Drift was startled from his thoughts by Crosshairs’ rough voice. The paratrooper was laying on his side, an elbow on the berth and head resting against his palm. The green mech stared at him with a grin, optics not fully bright as his systems came online. 

The swords master smiled back. “Thinking about you.” He said softly. 

“That so?” Teased Crosshairs. “And just what were ya thinking about meh that got ya all smiley like that?”

“Oh nothing, just admiring how similar to a cat you are.” That made Crosshairs frown. 

“A cat?”

“Indeed.”

“And just how am Ah like a rodent?” 

Drift grinned internally at the confused and slightly offended tone the paratrooper used. He refrained from correcting the green mech though.

“I assure you it is a good thing. But I will keep this revelation to myself.” Drift didn’t want Crosshairs to become self-concious and maybe lose some of the ease with which he recharged around him. 

The paratrooper bugged him the whole day to tell him what he meant, but Drift only smiled and kissed him. Crosshairs would soon forget all about his comment, and Drift would be able to keep on watching him online every morning in the same open and carefree way.


End file.
